The Intersection of Field Service and Technology: Trends for 2013

Gartner recently identified the Top 10 Strategic Technology Trends for 2013, with a focus on issues that impact the enterprise. In order to put the hype into context, our experts explain how hot topics such as mobility, cloud, big data and analytics will have a meaningful impact on your service organization. Our first discussion centers around mobility and enterprise app stores. Look for more discussions on field service predictions over the coming weeks.

In the report, Gartner specifically predicts: “Enterprises face a complex app store future as some vendors will limit their stores to specific devices and types of apps forcing the enterprise to deal with multiple stores, multiple payment processes and multiple sets of licensing terms. By 2014, Gartner believes that many organizations will deliver mobile applications to workers through private application stores. With enterprise app stores the role of IT shifts from that of a centralized planner to a market manager providing governance and brokerage services to users and potentially an ecosystem to support apptrepreneurs.”

What does this mean for service organizations with offsite crews or mobile workers? Mobility is everywhere and everything is now mobile. Mobile features should no longer be considered an add-on component to any strategy, it is now a requirement. To accomplish this, many companies are turning to an enterprise apps model to ensure the right information is accessed by the right user, with connectivity and security in mind.

ClickSoftware’s customers understand the value of enterprise apps and how this model can significantly enhance the service organization. The benefits include a consistent enterprise environment where users have a streamlined experience, using apps that are connected to each other, like building blocks, creating an interconnected system that communicates with each other and runs on one environment.

Overall, the streamlined approach creates a system that connects users to back-end systems, providing as much functionality as if they were sitting at a desktop. For example, enterprise apps enable mobile workers on smartphones to access things like work order data or a customer address in all apps, meaning they don’t need to retype the address in the GPS app before driving to their destination. In turn, this significantly enhances the customer experience and increases productivity for mobile workers.

Watch the full interview with Gil below to learn the benefits of enterprise apps and best practices to develop a mobile strategy.